About us

Achte Minute is the German and German-speaking debaters’ online magazine with more than one hundred thousand readers across Central Europe and thus the most eminent medium of information for student debaters. Achte Minute reviews and reports on events in the German and the international debating scene. Members of debating societies in German-speaking countries are invited to contribute to Achte Minute and give information on events (show debates, seminars, IVs), debating societies and their personnel (elections, awards) directly to the editorial team – contact: team [at] achteminute [dot] de. The editorial board investigates, collects and presents information in a journalistic and sophisticated manner in the online magazine. The board may also assign certain reports to other authors which will be published under their names. The inclusion of such articles does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them. The editorial board works thoroughly, neutrally and independently, but does not make representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information.

Mobile version and RSS feed

The magazine is available on mobile devices. The following systems are supported: iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android, BlackBerry, BlackBerry9500, BlackBerry9530, CUPCAKE, Symbian, dream, incognito, webOS, webmate, Nokia, iemobile. In addition, you may subscribe to the following RSS feeds:

History

A speech delivered in a debate is limited to seven minutes… but much more is left to say after that. Achte Minute (engl. eighth minute) aims at filling this gap. Starting out as a newsletter magazine, it was first edited by VDCH (Verband der Debattierclubs an Hochschulen, engl. Association of Debating Societies at Universities) and DDG (Deutsche Debattiergesellschaft, engl. German Debating Society for Alumni) in 2004. Editors in charge of the first three issues were Melanie Amann (Berlin/Munich), Rupprecht Podszun (Munich) and Kai Kottenstede (Münster). It was the latter who the name ‘Achte Minute’ was revealed to while watching TV, as is related. After that, Jens Saatkamp (Bonn), Christian Wolf (Düsseldorf) und Simon Wolf (Tübingen) were in charge of the following three issues until 2006. It was not before October 2007 that the then board of VDCH initiated the re-launch of the magazine, this time as a weblog. Under the aegis of Gudrun Lux (Mainz/Bonn) and Tim Richter (Bonn), ‘Achte Minute’ evolved over the course of two years into the vital means of information for debaters. In June 2010, VDCH and DDG decided to edit Achte Minute again mutually. Gudrun Lux and Tim Richter function as managing editors, Anja Pfeffermann is responsible for international relations. Now, the magazine is organized in three sections: the topic (“Das Thema”) at the top, news from the societies (“Neues aus den Clubs”) and recent news (“Aktuelle Artikel”). Additionally, it features the latest news via Twitter on anything debating related and a schedule presenting all events relevant for debaters across Europe.